Squabble Over Surcharge: City officials in Palo Alto, Calif., are getting ready to enact a garbage collection surcharge for residents who live in "hard to service" areas such as on steep hills, on narrow private streets and in alleyways. About 700 residents would have to pay the new $14.42-a-month surcharge.

The city says it is trying to close a $6.2 million deficit in its refuse fund, and that if a majority of residents protest, the city will drop the price hike. But some residents say that apparent show of fairmindedness is a sham because "those affected by the highest increases are a minority and will not have a voice if all utility customers are treated as one class."

The dissenters contend that if the city truly wants to be fair about the matter, it should consider only those residents who would have to pay the surcharge as a separate group, and then if a majority of that group protests, they should drop the extra fee.

Nuke Recycling Report: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has issued a report stating that recycling nuclear waste doesn't provide much short-term benefit because it costs too much and because ample supplies of uranium remain available, Bloomberg reports in an article posted on its website today.

"Critics of recycling say it creates stockpiles of dangerous materials," Bloomberg reports. "Arguments for recycling based on the need to preserve limited uranium isn’t an immediate concern, according to the study, which was headed by Ernest Moniz, director of the MIT Energy Initiative, and Mujid Kazimi, director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems.

"Technological advances may make recycling a better choice in the future, and the U.S. should preserve options that include an underground facility where waste would be removed and a portion reused as fuel, according to the study."

Pete Fehrenbach is managing editor of Waste & Recycling News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.